HISTORY OF THE COLLECTIVE
The Columbia Collective was founded in 2019 by artist Maggie Hazen at the Columbia Secure Center for Girls, a maximum-security juvenile detention facility in New York’s Hudson Valley. Named after the institution where it originated, the Collective emerged as a community of young female and trans artists navigating the conditions of incarceration through collaborative artistic practice. The group currently consists of six artists—Marshmallow, Jay, Juste-A, Marilynn, Torei, and Toni—and is co-directed by Hazen and curator Sofia Thiệu D’Amico.
From 2019 to 2021, the artists met weekly in a studio program modeled after graduate-level MFA education. Rather than following a prescribed curriculum of assignments and grades, participants developed independent artistic practices through experimentation, critical dialogue, and sustained mentorship. This approach established a space for creative autonomy within an institution structured around the regulation of movement, expression, and individual agency.
Following the closure of Columbia Secure Center in 2021, the Collective continued its work beyond the institution. Hazen has since expanded her teaching and collaborative practice into other New York State correctional facilities while working with community partners to support the artists’ continued creative development and transitions beyond incarceration. Through exhibitions, fundraising, storytelling, and mentorship, the Collective has sustained relationships and artistic exchange across the boundaries of confinement.
From 2019 to 2021, the artists met weekly in a studio program modeled after graduate-level MFA education. Rather than following a prescribed curriculum of assignments and grades, participants developed independent artistic practices through experimentation, critical dialogue, and sustained mentorship. This approach established a space for creative autonomy within an institution structured around the regulation of movement, expression, and individual agency.
Following the closure of Columbia Secure Center in 2021, the Collective continued its work beyond the institution. Hazen has since expanded her teaching and collaborative practice into other New York State correctional facilities while working with community partners to support the artists’ continued creative development and transitions beyond incarceration. Through exhibitions, fundraising, storytelling, and mentorship, the Collective has sustained relationships and artistic exchange across the boundaries of confinement.
